Where To Next?

Most of us don’t have to look too far into our memory bank to retrieve the file titled “Did I pass the certification exam?” About three weeks after taking the test, you probably checked the mail twice a day, even though you knew for a fact that the mail only comes once. And you knew what you were looking for—big envelope good; little envelope bad. It’s common knowledge that when you get your “suitable-for-framing” certificate, it comes flat in a big envelope, not folded in a little one.

Once the big envelope arrived, a wave of relief swept over you, and off you went to work. Within about six months to a year, you have most likely made the transition from “entry-level competent” to “proficient,” and you start to settle into the job. Around the two- or three-year mark, one of your colleagues may ask when you are going to “move into management.” Or, you may initiate that thought process on your own. In either case, this month I’m tackling the question, “Where to next?”

Move Into Management

In our society, many folks believe that you must continually climb the ladder to be successful. With each step you typically take on more responsibility, and usually with that responsibility comes compensation.

Once those seeds of should-I-move-into-management are planted, you have a waiting period to see if they will grow. While you wait, make sure to ask yourself if this is really what you want, or simply what others want for you. If it’s not what you want, maybe you should reconsider. On the other hand, if it is what you want, then set yourself up to succeed. A large part of this process is continuing your education. At a minimum, that means taking some management classes. In most cases, it requires having a degree.

Irrespective of what type of shift schedule you work, going to school full-time while working full-time is a daunting task for anyone. For the vast majority of us, full-time field work, especially when coupled with trying to start a family, only leaves enough time for part-time school. That, in turn, stretches out the time it will take to complete your academic preparation. Whether you go to school part-time or full-time, it is important to recognize that either takes its toll on you, as well as on your family members. It is essential to open and maintain a dialog with your family about how best to absorb the impact of school and work. Without that dialog, you may find that you have traded an associate’s or bachelor’s degree for your family when the divorce papers get served.

Another huge aspect of making the decision to move into management is understanding how that may change your relationship with your peers. Sadly, for many field providers, there seems to be an us vs. them mentality about management. Once you make the move into management, you’ll be surprised how many of your old buddies cross you off their social list. It is unfortunate, but very common, and you need to be emotionally prepared for that fallout.

Move Into Education

With time, you may find that you have an interest in teaching. Part of the good news here is that making a move into education isn’t as drastic as the move into management, for a couple of reasons. First, you may only need to take an instructor or preceptor course, rather than complete a degree. These specialized courses may only require a few days to a couple of weeks. Second, the move into education can often be made in two or three small steps rather than a giant leap.

The first of those steps is generally to begin precepting students. In many systems, you must complete your first recertification cycle to be considered for precepting. If you think about it, there is some logic to that. You need to grow up, own your patch and really know the job before you can provide any insights to students. In other words, you can’t teach someone else how to do a job you don’t know yet.

The second step in the move into education is often becoming a field training officer (FTO). As with precepting, this move can frequently be made without a degree; however, expect to be required to take some kind of focused coursework or training before you can become an FTO.

One aspect of becoming an FTO that is commonly overlooked is that this job does involve some management components. As an FTO, you will be working closely with management as you train and evaluate new hires or work to remediate problems with already-working field providers. The first time you complete an unfavorable evaluation, then watch someone get cut loose from the organization, reality sinks in. This person got fired, and you were part of that process. While you may not actually be management, you are really close, as in pleural-space-close. Remember that relative space between the visceral and parietal pleura? You know, the one that really doesn’t exist as the visceral and parietal pleura maintain contact and slide back and forth? No matter how you slice it, that’s really close, and you are there. As such, a move to FTO can result in some of the social fallout mentioned earlier.

If the education bug keeps biting, you may decide to leave the field and move into full- time teaching. Again, this frequently requires a degree, so this isn’t a decision to take lightly, because of the investment of time and money, along with the impact on the family.

Stay Put

Last on the list of choices is to simply stay put. As you move through life, you become more focused on the things that really matter. Making a lot of money doing something you hate makes no sense to me at all. If you find your niche and love what you do, stay put. Don’t let someone convince you that you aren’t successful because you aren’t climbing the corporate ladder. Climbing a ladder into a life of misery doesn’t sound that successful to me. While you might make more money, it may only pay for a nicer funeral, as the toll of doing a job you hate and the resulting stress that comes with it shortens your life expectancy.

Field work in EMS is not just for the young. As long as you keep yourself in good shape and the field is where your heart truly is, you should give serious consideration to staying there.

Until next month…